The preparation of wood surfaces for joinery by power tools has heretofore been severely limited by the currently available stationary joiners. This limitation posed several problems. First, the prior art joiners could not be moved to the work piece so that the work piece had to be moved to and over the stationary table which contained the cutting bit. This was true even when the work piece was large and/or heavy and/or extremely long. Long pieces of wood were particularly vexatious because they tended to bounce while being cut. If the work piece moves the wrong way while being cut, minimally the cut had to be redone but more often that not was ruined. Since joinery is usually practiced on finer, more expensive woods, such a loss is most significant relative to the total cost of the project. Furthermore, the shaping of large pieces frequently required the presence of a second person, or special supports, or both in order to obtain true cutting thereby adding further to the unit cost. The length of such work pieces was further limited by the space available in the quarters where the tool was located and the position of the joiner relative to nearby obstacles such as walls, columns and the like. The length of the work piece was frequently limited to a maximum of one-half the floor width surrounding the joiner thereby necessitating further joining where the desired length of the work piece exceeded the available space.
Safety is another major concern in the use of a presently available joiners. Frequently, the operator's hands were only inches away from the cutting blade and clearly at risk when required to press down on the work piece during the cutting operation to prevent the work piece from bouncing or slipping during the procedure.
Further, present day joiners generally can cut only 1/16th of an inch, or 1/8th of an inch at the most, in a single pass. Therefore, a deeper cut, such as a full 45 degree angle across the full work piece, may take several cuts, requiring several passes of the work piece.
Portable planers have provided a solution to some of these difficulties, but each create problems of their own. The portable planer moves over the work piece, unlike the stationary planer, thus eliminating some of the previous problems. The biggest disadvantage of the portable planer; however, is that it follows the contour of the surface of the work piece. If the work piece has any length and an uneven surface, the result is a wavy product which cannot be used, or has to be redone. Also, any movement other than a steady consistent movement of the portable planer can cause defects in the finished product.
The quality of the surface required for joinery has heretofore precluded the use of the conventional table saws and ordinary cutting tools in joiner operations.
The present invention is directed toward a novel and unique wood working assembly which obviates the prior art problems in a unique and cost efficient way and permits high quality joinery to be produced either in the workshop or on the building site.